Hatrack



H. D. EVANS Feb. 23, 1954 HATRACK Filed Sept. 27'. 1950 I N V EN TOR. HarO/e? Q [Iva/75 Patented Feb. 23, 1954 1.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,HATRACK Harold D. Evans, Kansas City, Mo., I assignor of one-half to Helen L. Evans, Kansas City, Mo.

Application September 2'7, 1950, Serial No. 187,046

4 Claims. 1

- This invention pertains to the art of clothing hangers and has for a primary aim the provision of a multiple-bank type hat rack capable of supporting a number of hats in stacked relation and adapted to permit access to any one of the hats of the stack without removing the remaining hats therefrom and from the portion of the racks carrying the same.

One of the important aims of the instant invention is to provide a hat rack of the aforementioned character that is simple in its arrangement of parts, durable and ellicient with regard to carrying the weight imposed thereon and easy to manipulate when removing or placing hats therein.

Other objects of the invention include the details of construction, all of which are important and contribute substantially to the economy of production, ease of installing and assurance of normal operation without likelihood of maladjustment.

Further objects of the invention will appear during the course of the'followingspecification, referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a hat rack made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 2.

In the form of the invention chosen for illustration, the hat rack comprises a series of three superimposed, spaced-apart, U-shaped elements disposed on vertical planes and mounted upon a support [0. In the instance shown, support I is a wall wherein eye I2 is secured, but the support may be a base of any suitable character which, in turn, may be mounted upon a support such as wall 10. The U-shaped elements are broadly designated by the numeral M, are horizontally aligned as shown in Fig. 1 and each comprises a bight l6 conforming with the contour of the crown I8 of the hat which is supported therein.

This arcuate bight l6 has its legs 20 offset to accommodate brim 22 of the contained hat, and the ends of legs 20 are joined by a tie rod 24. A laterally-extending portion 26 on each leg 20 respectively terminates in a hook 28 that engages the tie rod 24 of the U-shaped element I4 next adjacent to the said element upon which the hook is formed. The portions 26 of legs 20 converge slightly as the hooks 28 thereof are approached. Such inter-engagement between one of the tie rods 24 and hooks 28 allows free swinging movement of any of the Ushaped elements scribed.

An oifset neck 30 extends downwardly from bight l6 and thence rearwardly to abut the next underlying element and limit the swinging movement about tie rods 24. A tab 32 mounted on each neck 30 respectively, extends downwardly and outwardly and terminates in a finger piece 33, affording a grip for manipulating the individual elements. Additionally the tab 32 bears against the offset neck 30 of the element It next adjacent thereto whereby to hold the hats and the elements [4 against collapsing and thereby crushing the crowns of the hats when the elements are swung on their respective axes. The neck 30 and legs 20 of each unit l4 lie in sub stantially the same plane, 1. e., oifset from the plane of arcuate bight l6; and, when the hat crown I8 lies in bight Hi, the brim 22 thereof is disposed within the offset neck 30 and legs 20.

The innermost element l4 has the hook 28 thereof in engagement with eye l2; and, under such arrangement of parts, any one of elements [4 may be swungoutwardly around its supporting connection to release the hat therefrom. The hats are in telescoped relation when all of the elements are employed, and a minimum amount of space is thereby occupied by the number of hats which the multiple rack is designed to accommodate.

Additional U-shaped elements l4 may be added as desired without altering the construction of any of the parts. The preferred material from which the hat rack is constructed is wire or rod stock as illustrated, and tie rod 24 as well as tab 32, is spot-welded in place. The operation of welding these members 24 and 32 in position is the only assembling step necessary after the individual U-shaped elements 14 are formed in a jig or die.

The angle between legs 20 and rearwardly extending portion 26 thereof is slightly less than a right angle to properly dispose the main portion of elements [4 substantially vertically but with the lower ends thereof slightly behind or closer to support It! than the upper ends. Thus, no accidental outward movement on the part of any of the elements can occur, and the hats supported by the rack are held in place until the rack is manually manipulated to remove the desired hat from its individual supporting element I4.

It is clear that normally all of the hats are disposed as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 hanging within the respective holder therefor without crushing by virtue of the rearwardly extending portion of the necks 30 resting against the holder next behind. When any holder is actuated it swings on its own pivot carrying therewith all holders and hats in front thereof and all carried thereby remain in the same relative position as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Even when elevated the plurality of raised hats cannot brush or fa'll from their holders.

Manifestly, hat racks having structural de-' tails different from those illustrated and described, may be produced without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A hat rack of the multiple-bani; type comprising a series of substantially U shap'd elements, including an innermost, an intermediate and an outermost element, each having a bight, n tmellrdi os d o eiv the c own of. a hat in supporting relationship thereto and a pair of spaced, normally upstanding legsextending from said pight; a laterallyextending portion on each leg; me n or m untin aidportion ofthe. l o f theinnermost element on a support for swingsmoveme n ah r z i ime r s ncting th e legsof said innermost element with adspq ti n p t eme of h ter iat element for swinging movement of saidinnermost element and intermediate element relatively to 19 ot e .011. a hQI Z I axis; dm e s c nnectingfsaid intermediate element with said portions of the legs or the outermost element for swinging movement of said intermediate and outermost elements relatively to each other on a horizontal axis.

A hat rack of. the multiple-bank. typ e comprising a series of substantially U-shapedelements, each having a bight normally disposed to receive the crown of a hat in supporting relationship thereto, a pair of spacednormally upstanding legs extending from, said bight, each provided with an uppermost end, a horizontal tie rod interconnecting the legs at the uppermost ends thereof. and a laterally extending portion on each leg at its uppermost end, each portion terminating in a hook; and means receiving the hooks of one of the elements for swingably mounting the same on a support, the hooks of the remaining elements being pivotally connected to the tie bar of an adjacent element.

3. A hat raclr as set forth in claim 2, wherein the bight 4.15; each element respectively includes a neck formed therein adjacent the normally lowermost portion of the bight, said neck being provided with a normally downwardly extending portion, said legs and said downwardly extending portion of the neck of each element respectively heing oiist laterally from the plane of the remai'rider of the bight to accommodate the brim of ,a hat carri d th reby.

4. A hat rack as s't forth in claim 3, wherein is provided a normally downwardly extending tab on said downwardly extending portion of the neck of each element respectively, said neol; of ach lement e t vdrbB ne rq i edw he laterally extending portion normally v in abutting engagement with the tab of a next adjacent element. p t

HAROLD D. EVANS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS me Ne i we $7,278 Cooper Feb. 2% T89). 668,727 Chapman "Feb. 26, 1 991 new E rds m 2? 02 383x128 Slinsky Mar. 31, 190;} 9 6 H n y ,8 90

were F r'u "are 6 19.12 1,175,508 Williams Mar. 2 1, w fe 403,815 Chaver Jan; 17, 1922 .5 6292 P e DFL 2 92 2,273g641 Henderson Feb. 17, 19 42 2,547,557 Goodhand Nov. 13', 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,027 Great Britain I915 

